Brendan Rodgers believes he emerged from Arsenal’s pursuit of Luis Suarez as ‘a better manager’ and is determined to prove it by leading Liverpool into the Champions League.

This will be the first time Liverpool have faced the league leaders at Anfield since Arsenal failed with a number of attempts, including a bid of £40million plus £1, to land Suarez last summer. The Uruguay striker has since committed to Liverpool by signing a long-term contract.

Back in the summer, though, Rodgers had to handle the pressured situation of his star player angling for a move away and it would have been difficult to envisage Liverpool challenging for a top-four place had Suarez got his way.

VIDEO: Scroll down to watch Rodgers and Wenger talk of the big game

Staying power: Luis Suarez remained at Liverpool after the club rejected a £40m plus £1 bid from Arsenal

Red hot! Luis Suarez leads the Premier League scoring charts with 23 goals this season

Though the experience was filled with tension — Suarez was banished to train on his own at one stage —Rodgers has no regrets and feels he is now more complete in his role.

‘I think it made me a better manager,’ said Rodgers. ‘You don’t get these scenarios when you’re doing your coaching courses. Man-management is a vital part of the job. You always have to respect players but hopefully you can find common ground with the great players we have.

‘With Luis, I always knew that once we’d ended the speculation with him it would be fine. I’ve never known a player like him in training.

‘You can see the commitment and hunger he has for this club and that over-rides any ill-feeling over what happened in the summer.’

Waiting game: Rodgers was convinced that Suarez would settle back in once the speculation had died down

This is Liverpool’s best opportunity to qualify for the Champions League since they were last in it five years ago and Rodgers knows he can’t afford to do without European football for too long.

‘We would not want too many breaks from it [Europe]. European football is what this club is about,’ said Rodgers. ‘But certainly for us this season gives us an opportunity to get in there. Our squad is small, relative to the competitions that we are in but allows us to hopefully fight and to be able to be at our best to get in there and hopefully that will be to our advantage in the last 14 games.’

Meanwhile, Rodgers’s opposite number Arsene Wenger now has player departures of his own to worry about after warning Bacary Sagna that he will be making a mistake if he walks away from Arsenal.

Grass not always greener: Wenger has warned Bacary Sagna that it would be a mistake to leave Arsenal

The France right back is out of contract at the end of the season and has already turned down two offers to stay — one a 12-month extension on the same £60,000-per-week salary, the other a two-year deal, again on the same money.

As Sportsmail revealed this week, Arsenal are preparing a third offer for Sagna, who is free to discuss a potential Bosman move abroad. Sportsmail understands that Sagna wants at least a three-year deal and a pay rise to consider staying.

Clubs including Galatasaray, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain are keen and have the financial firepower to give Sagna the deal he wants. But while admitting the club are not close to an agreement with Sagna, Wenger warned the defender the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere.

Boost: Franck Ribery is a doubt for Bayern Munich's Champions League clash with Arsenal at the Emirates

‘When I say I expect Sagna to stay, it’s more that I want him to,’ admitted Wenger. ‘He wants to keep his options open, because he is at the end of a contract. He is 31, I can understand. Can he get more security elsewhere? You should ask him that.

‘We are always in negotiations with him and we try always to be fair with him. I believe his future is here and any other decision would be wrong.’

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Champions League chances have been boosted with the news that Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery is a doubt for the last-16 tie after having surgery on his buttocks.Bayern visit the Emirates on February 19 with the return leg at the Allianz Arena on March 11.

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